In the video, recorded at 6:08 pm on July 13, the person is seen on the roof of the building adjacent to where Trump was speaking.The individual appears from the one-second mark and is visible until around the 2:50 mark.
Authorities believe that gunman Thomas Crooks, aged 20, began shooting with a collapsible AR-15-style rifle three minutes later, at approximately 6:11 pm. Counter snipers swiftly responded, fatally shooting Crooks. Law enforcement officials found eight shell casings near his body.
In his attempt to assassinate the former president, Crooks tragically killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a husband, father, and former fire chief at the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department. Crooks also critically wounded Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, with both victims sustaining two gunshot wounds.
Copenhaver was not filming at the time he was shot, according to his lawyer, Joseph Feldman of the Law Offices of Max C. Feldman. Feldman explained that Copenhaver had stopped recording when attendees turned to view a projection screen.
Trump and his rally attendees had turned their heads to view immigration statistics projected onto a large screen when the first shots rang out. Feldman recounted Copenhaver’s experience: “He had almost seen or heard something whiz past him, which we’re assuming was a bullet. He felt it on his arm, and he looked down at his arm…and felt pain initially, but he hadn’t even realised he had been shot a second time at that point. It could have been shock”, as per Fox news.
FBI officials disclosed during a press call on Monday that Crooks had gained access to the roof of the AGR building by climbing HVAC equipment and piping. He then traversed multiple rooftops before positioning himself on top of the AGR building, where he had a direct line of sight to the former president.
On the day of the rally, Crooks parked his vehicle and flew a drone between approximately 3:50 pm and 4 pm about 200 yards from where the former president would be speaking. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified during a July 17 congressional hearing that Crooks had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes on the morning of the assassination attempt.
The FBI is still working to determine Crooks’ motive behind the shooting.